


(Strange Magic Secret Santa 2015)

by jupiter23



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: F/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 22:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5516291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jupiter23/pseuds/jupiter23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a marriage proposal is considered, and Dawn is way more perceptive than anyone gives her credit for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(Strange Magic Secret Santa 2015)

**Author's Note:**

> For broomchickabroom on Tumblr for the Strange Magic Secret Santa event on Tumblr. Thanks for this prompt, I actually had a lot of fun writing it! 
> 
> (Please note: no bats were harmed in the making of this fic.)

Bog stretched his arms above his head, his wings simultaneously stretching behind him while he gave his neck a twist to the side. Some of his tension released with the audible _crack_ of adjusting vertebrae and scales clicking back into place. He was currently making his way back to the guest quarters at the Fairy Kingdom’s castle after spending most of the morning in a conference room with Dagda and a combination of council members and advisers from both the Dark Forest and Fairy Kingdoms. They’d broken for lunch, and Bog had decided it was a good time for some peace and quiet for a while.

 Part of his stay involved finalizing the talks of the open border policy that Marianne had gotten started. Somehow these meetings coincided with the Fairy Kingdom’s spring ball and the Elf Festival that was held the day after. There wouldn’t have been a need for Bog and his delegation to stay at the castle at all had Marianne not practically begged him to come to both events as well. Which, by the way, he only agreed to attend because Marianne asked him, and that was the only excuse he would give anyone who brought it up.

Speaking of Marianne, he hadn’t seen her at all since the night before at the Spring Ball. Her father had assigned her to help the elves with the final preparations for their festival that day, which meant she wasn’t able to make the meeting that morning. Bog had to admit he had been a bit irritated on Marianne’s behalf at this. After all, the open borders were her idea. But she had insisted at the ball the night before that it was fine, the talks were going very well anyway. He had reluctantly agreed with her, but more because he couldn’t do anything about it at that point. But it turned out she had been right. After the meeting that day, they didn’t have much else left to do other than to sign papers and make it formal. Marianne would be pleased to hear that.

So that was one less thing to worry about. As Bog continued walking, his thoughts went back to Marianne the night before. It was the first time he had seen her so dressed up. And she had looked a bit uncomfortable until she had seen his reaction. He had gone completely speechless and could feel the blush rising to his cheeks. When he could finally form words again, he told her she looked absolutely radiant. She had finally smiled and blushed herself. He hadn’t been able to take his eyes off of her all night.

Then again, she hadn’t been far from his thoughts since they’d officially started courting nearly a year ago now. Even when they were in one another’s presence, which was as often as they could make it happen, he thought about her. Okay, yeah, they were very much in love with each other, and everyone knew it. Some (namely, his mother and Dawn) were beginning to wonder when they planned on getting married.

He and Marianne had tried to talk about it once a couple of months ago, but it had probably been too soon at the time. That conversation had been started by Griselda not-so-subtly hinting at their future wedding over dinner one night in the Dark Forest. Bog himself couldn’t remember everything his mother had said. All he really remembered was nearly choking on whatever he’d been trying to eat at the time while Marianne had clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from spitting her drink across the table. Before either one of them could yell at Griselda, she had quickly excused herself for the night. Looking back on it, Bog wouldn’t have put it past her to have planned the whole thing that way. Because then they were left with each other, both stuttering awkwardly about how crazy of an idea it was, and that it was way too soon to be thinking of something like that, wasn’t it? And then they had hastily agreed, and hadn’t brought it up again since.

But he knew everyone was starting to talk about it. That, and since that night he’d had time to think about it. Of course he wanted to marry her. How could he not? And then the thought had crossed his mind to simply ask her. It had scared the hell out of him when he realized that. And then came the second-guessing and the agonizing over the whole issue, until he finally decided this morning before the meeting.

He’d ask her at the Elf Festival tonight. No putting it off, no letting himself get nervous, just ask her and be done with it.

And he’d been really careful to not let on to _anyone_ that he was going to propose to Marianne. At least he really hoped no one had caught on. Which was part of the reason he was looking forward to this alone time. It was a lot easier to not have to put up a front when there was no one around to put one up for.

He was still musing on this and nearly all the way back to the guest quarters when his name was called from behind, accompanied by a fluttering of wings. The next thing Bog knew, there was a flurry of pink and gold at his side and a weight latching on to his arm.

“Now I know you’re not planning on eating alone!” Dawn said happily, clutching his arm rather tightly in both hands.

“Actually, I was,” Bog answered. He hadn’t stopped walking, but hadn’t tried to disengage his arm either. He had learned a long time ago that she would let go eventually. He was hoping that it would be before he reached his room this time.

“Aw, come on, you can’t do that!”

“Watch me.”

“Okay, fine, but I’m coming in there with you.” This made Bog stop. Before he could launch into a lecture about how tired he was, he caught a look at her out of the corner of his eye. Dawn was in one of her moods where she wasn’t going to take no for an answer, and it was clearly written into the smile she had plastered on her face. He let out an exasperated sigh.

“Alright, fine, why can’t I eat alone?”

Dawn squealed happily and turned him back around and led him back the way they had come. “Because then I’ll have to eat with Dad, and he’s eating with all of those stuffy politicians, and that will be boring! But I don’t want to eat alone, and I knew you wouldn’t be eating with them, so I came to find you!”

Bog vaguely wondered at how it was she didn’t pass out. She had spoken without stopping for a single breath. “Wait, Sunny’s not with you?”

Dawn huffed in annoyance. “No, he’s helping Marianne set up the Elf Festival. And they’re eating over there while they work. Like I said, boring!”

Bog had been holding out the slight hope that Marianne would come back to the castle at midday so he could see her again, but it seemed that that wasn’t going to happen. Oh, well. He supposed he could handle spending a bit of time with Dawn, if it was only going to be the two of them.

Unbeknownst to Bog, Dawn had been watching him while she spoke. He hadn’t realized that his disappointment over Marianne had actually shown on his face until Dawn spoke again.

“By the way, wasn’t Marianne just beautiful last night?” she asked.

Dawn’s underlying tone didn’t immediately register on Bog’s brain. By then his lips had tilted up in a smile, and he answered with a rather dreamy “Yeah.” Then he realized she was watching him. He quickly cleared his throat. “I—I mean yes! She was! I mean—not that she isn’t—I mean—“ Bog ended his thought on a low growl and clamped his mouth shut.

Internally, he started freaking out. So naturally he missed the fact that Dawn had not stopped watching him.

“You know, you two should just get married as soon as possible,” she said carefully.

Again, Bog didn’t register what she had said until it was too late. He murmured out another dreamy “yeah,” and then stopped cold in the middle of the hallway when he realized what she’d said. Dawn finally let go of his arm at this point and stared up at him. Then she blinked once, twice….

Her delighted shriek was so loud that even though Bog had clapped his hands over his ears, they were still ringing slightly.

 

_~On the other side of the castle, in the dining room~_

The several casual conversations that had been taking place throughout the room fell silent as a far-off scream echoed into the room. All heads turned towards the door, and servants stopped in the middle of setting out plates full of food.

“That sounded like Princess Dawn,” one of the fairy delegates said.

“Shouldn’t we go see if she’s okay?” asked a goblin delegate.

At the head of the table, King Dagda had also turned towards the door. He studied the door for a moment as if he could actually see his daughter, but then turned back to his food. “Don’t worry, that was just one of her happy screams.”

Several heads turned towards him, some giving him strange looks while others turned back to their own plates.

Dagda noticed the stares he was getting. “I _am_ her father,” he answered the unspoken question. This seemed to satisfy them, and eventually everyone resumed eating. But they now had something new to talk about.

“I wonder what that was about,” another goblin delegate said.

“It could have been anything. She gets excited so easily,” a fairy answered.

“Wait, wasn’t she going to find the Bog King?” another fairy asked.

“Maybe that was why she screamed—“ yet another fairy started, but his sentence was halted by a hot glare from every goblin in the room. The fairy’s face colored and he turned back to his food.

“Anyway, yes, she was going to find the Bog King,” a goblin answered.

Another goblin snorted. “Maybe she found out he’s planning on proposing to Princess Marianne.”

Dagda started choking on a mouthful of food while the room fell silent again. The first goblin started laughing. “Please! You actually believe that rumor?”

“It’s not a rumor! Haven’t you seen how he’s been acting lately?” the second goblin argued.

“Yeah! You should get in on the betting pool while there’s still time!” a third goblin piped up.

Dagda’s airway finally cleared. “Wait, what!?”

“Yeah! We started it a few weeks ago!” another goblin explained. “His majesty’s mother said he was probably going to do it soon, and we know better than to doubt her!”

“Griselda’s not always right, though. He hasn’t done it yet, and it’s been over a month,” the first goblin said.

Dagda could only stare at the goblins in confused disbelief. “I’m telling you, he’s gonna do it soon!” the second goblin argued. Some of the fairies started glancing at one another while some of the goblins started arguing, some of them with looks of growing amusement.

“Hey,” one of the fairies spoke up, quieting the goblins. “How much to get in on this?”   

Dagda stared at the fairy in horror. “Yeah, how much?” another fairy said. And then a couple more fairies agreed with them. Dagda buried his face in the palm of his hand while the goblins happily answered them.

But Dagda decided it was more than enough. “No, no, no!” he exclaimed, quieting the table again. “There will be no gambling regarding this matter!” Everyone looked disappointed, and there were some grumbles of compliance. Dagda started eating again, satisfied that at least he had diverted some of the chatter, if not quelled any rumors. He couldn’t stop the flash of irritation, though. The Bog King had never once approached him about asking for Marianne’s hand. But he shook the feeling off as best as he could. Maybe it was a goblin thing to not approach a potential bride-to-be’s father first. Dagda forced the entire issue out of his mind and returned to his lunch and his dining room full of guests.

Or at least he thought that was the end of it. After Dagda had finished eating and excused himself from the room, gold pieces started changing hands as wagers were being made. Some fairies were betting on the Bog King proposing to Marianne that night.

 

Bog carefully pulled his hands away from his ears. Dawn had started giggling and dancing around him excitedly. Once his arms were free again, Dawn grabbed him by a hand and started tugging him along through the castle. Then she started chattering about wedding plans. Bog was only half-listening. How had she figured it out? He had been so careful! He only hoped no one else had figured this out. He’d certainly never hear the end of it from his mother.

He was still lost in thought when something Dawn said caught his attention. He tugged on her hand, stopping her.

 “What did you just say?” he asked. He hoped she wasn’t serious about what she had just said.

“I said, I can’t wait to tell Marianne! Pay attention!” Dawn chided. Then she turned and started pulling him along again.

“Wait, no!” he pulled on her hand, forcing her to stop again. “You absolutely can NOT tell Marianne!”

“And why not?” Dawn retorted, a defiant look on her face.

“Because I don’t want her or anyone else to know!”

“Aw, but it’s so sweet and romantic and—“ Dawn was cut off at the look Bog was giving her, which was a combination of irritated and pleading. Dawn blew out a breath at this, disappointed.

“Oh, alright,” she conceded. Bog sighed in relief. “On one condition, though.”

 Damn. Bog snarled under his breath. “Which is?”

“You better ask her soon, or I _am_ going to tell her!”

“I was going to!”

“Oh yeah? When?”

“Tonight.”

Dawn’s face lit up. “At the Elf Festival? Oh, I can’t wait! And don’t worry, I know she’ll say yes!” And then Dawn started pulling him again and resumed her chatter about wedding plans. He let her pull him and returned to half-listening.

Truthfully, he was in a slight daze.  It wasn’t that he thought Marianne would say no. But that didn’t make it any less nerve-wracking. And now there was the chance that people already knew, which had only added to his stress. He only hoped he would be able to escape from Dawn after they ate. He really needed the alone time now.

 

Bog had managed to luck out after his impromptu lunch with Dawn. She had wanted to go ahead and start getting ready for the Elf Festival that evening (although _why_ she needed so much time was beyond him. From what he understood it wasn’t a formal thing and as far as he was concerned, she could have gone as she was) which freed him up for his much-needed alone time. And it had helped somewhat. At the very least there was no one there with him to watch him pace the room nervously or to listen to him tapping his claws rapidly on the windowsill when he did stop long enough to stare out across the fields while his thoughts flew around his head at a million miles an hour. However, he was proud of himself that he had managed to school himself back into a calm façade when Marianne herself came by his room when it was time to go.

And now here they were at the Elf Festival. He and Marianne were walking around the fairgrounds hand in hand while goblins, fairies, and elves milled around them. There was a sizable crowd at the stage area, dancing to whatever it was Dawn and Sunny were on stage singing. Bog wasn’t really listening to the music. For that matter, he really wasn’t paying much attention to the festival overall.

His focus was on Marianne, who seemed to be enjoying herself much more than she had the night before at the Spring Ball. Bog guessed that it was because it was a much more informal setting, and she didn’t have to dress up for this. Plus, she was allowed to have her sword. Or maybe it was because there were a lot more escape routes out here. If he knew Marianne, she already had a getaway plan worked out and would take it as soon as she saw a chance.

The two of them had made one circuit of the fairgrounds when Marianne yanked on his arm to get his attention. He had been so lost in thought it hadn’t occurred to him that she had spoken.

“Are you alright, Bog? You seem distracted,” she said.

“I’m—I’m fine!” his voice came out more high-pitched than he’d intended, so he cleared his throat and tried again. “I’m good. Just…admiring the view.”

Marianne snorted. “A crowd of people is considered a view?”

Bog arched an eyebrow and his lips tilted up in a grin. “Who said I was looking at the crowd?”

Marianne’s cheeks flushed at this, but her smile could have rivaled the sun.

“Anyway, what were you saying?” Bog prompted her.

“Oh, yeah,” Marianne recovered. “I asked if you wanted to go sit down.”

“Yes!” Bog answered on a sigh of relief. An escape plan it was then. That was when it had finally occurred to Bog that Marianne had led them to the edge of the fairgrounds, where there were less people.

“This way, then,” Marianne said, releasing his hand. She took to the air and he followed her to a nearby rooftop, where they sat down to watch everyone below them.

About half an hour passed while they people-watched. It seemed that more people had joined the festival below them, but if anyone had noticed the two of them, they never gave any indication. A few elves and goblins had joined Dawn and Sunny on the stage and there were even more people dancing. Bog was even sure he saw his mother and the Sugar Plum Fairy somewhere in the crowd at one point.

However, it was still white noise to Bog. With them being on the outskirts of the festival now, he was hyper-aware of Marianne sitting next to him, and his nerves were starting to go into overdrive again. He had to avoid touching the roof for fear of his claws scratching into it. But he hadn’t realized that he’d begun tapping rapidly on his staff until Marianne reached over and laid a hand over his.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked him again. “You’ve been fidgeting all night.” 

“Yes, I’m fine! Don’t worry about me,” he reassured her with a smile that he hoped didn’t make him look as nervous as he felt. She gave him a look that said she didn’t quite believe him, and she certainly wasn’t going to stop worrying about him, but didn’t press the issue either. Then she looked back down at the festival and glanced back over at him and seemed to have decided on something.

“How about a story?” she said. Bog only blinked at her. This seemed a bit sudden, but…

“Okay,” he said slowly.

“One night about, oh, a year ago,” she started, “there was an Elf Festival very much like this one going on.”

Bog couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter. Oh, he remembered that night very well. His left cheek still hurt sometimes thinking about it. “You mean the night we first met?” he corrected.

“Yes, that’s the one!” she said. “The night an angry king of the Dark Forest crashed the party and kidnapped my sister.”

“I thought we talked about this though—“ Bog started to argue, but Marianne cut him off.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but that’s not really my point,” Marianne clarified. Bog decided to let her continue. “Did I ever tell you where I was right before that?”

“You said that blond idiot had turned up at the festival so you escaped into the Elf village to avoid him,” Bog answered.

Marianne laughed and Bog couldn’t help smiling to himself. He always liked to watch her laugh. “Well, yes,” she said when she sobered up. “It just so happens, I came to this very rooftop when you interrupted everything.”

“Really?” Bog said, looking around. “Wait, did you bring us here on purpose?”

Marianne bit her lip. “Yes and no.”

Bog only furrowed his brow in confusion.

“Okay, well, first of all, you were looking really uncomfortable down there, and you know I would have wanted to leave as soon as I could anyway,” Marianne explained. “And I just happen to know that you would have wanted to leave too.”

“Yeah, so?” Bog said.

Marianne’s lips tilted up in a sly smile and she stood up, taking to the air to hover in front of him, her hands clasped behind her back. Bog arched an eyebrow as he watched her. “So,” she continued, “I decided that since you kidnapped a princess of the Fairy Kingdom last year, this year it was time for a little revenge.”

An amused grin split across Bog’s face. “Oh really?” he challenged her. “And just what did you have in mind?”

“I was thinking that this time it was a certain king of the Dark Forest’s turn to be kidnapped,” Marianne said, her own grin widening.

Bog’s grin grew wider in response. “And just how were you planning on doing that? You didn’t bring an army with you.”

“Who said I need an army?” she asked sweetly. “You’ll come with me willingly.”

“Will I now?” Bog was thoroughly amused and growing more curious by the second how she planned to accomplish this “kidnapping.”  

“Yes, you will,” Marianne said.

Bog only watched her, waiting for her explanation. Without warning Marianne surged forward and snatched up his staff, and then retreated just out of reach.

“Very funny, Tough Girl,” Bog said, standing up and flying towards her. Marianne retreated back a few more feet.

“You want it back?” she taunted him. Bog made a grab for his staff, only to come up empty when Marianne backed up a few more feet.

“Oh, no, almighty Bog King! If you really want it back, you’ll have to catch me!” Marianne said, then turned and shot off into the night. Bog laughed before taking off after her.

 

The festival was only distant noise and light when Bog finally caught up to Marianne. He knew she could hear him coming, but she wasn’t making much of an effort to keep any distance between them at this point either. As soon as he was close enough, he dove at her, wrapping both arms around her waist from behind. Her laughter rang out across the open field as he pulled them to a stop in mid-air and finally tugged his staff away from her. She let him take it.

“You know, you aren’t very good at this kidnapping business,” Bog pointed out.

“I never claimed to be,” Marianne said. Then she drew her sword.

He gave her a disbelieving look. “A spar? Really? And all the way out here?”

“Why not?” she countered. She looked pointedly at the clear sky above them, and then back at him with a flirty smile. “The moonlight is perfect right now.”

Bog laughed. The memory of himself saying that to her almost a year ago now played through his mind. When he sobered, he gave his staff a twirl and held it at the ready. “Whatever you wish, Tough Girl,” he said.

Marianne’s grin widened and she readied her sword. “Whenever you’re ready, your majesty,” she answered.

Unlike a year ago, though, Bog attacked first. Marianne blocked his staff with her sword, and then it became a dance around one another as they rapidly deflected one another’s blows with their weapons. Also unlike a year ago, they weren’t fighting seriously. Although she had also made a significant improvement since that day, but then they did also spend a lot of their free time together practicing.  

What did remain from a year ago was the back-and-forth banter. That, and Bog was no less impressed with her skill. Although this time it was coupled with their laughter intermingling with the clanging of their weapons meeting. 

“So was this your real plan?” Bog finally asked her as she aimed a downward strike at him, which he easily blocked. He immediately made a swipe at her legs, twisting into the movement, which she easily evaded. “Get me out here alone where there are no witnesses?”

“Now why would I do that?” Marianne asked innocently as they both aimed for each other at the same time. Their weapons locked together between them and their eyes met over them. Marianne wasn’t even trying to hide her smile. “It’s like you think I have an ulterior motive or something!”

“Because you do,” Bog countered. Their weapons unlocked and they pushed apart from one another. Then Bog aimed another swing, which Marianne deflected with her sword.  

“Then what is it I’m planning, if you’re so smart?” she asked as she deflected a return swing.

“Well, let’s see—“ he blocked a swing to his own leg, “—you kidnapped the king of the Dark Forest—“ a swing of his own to her midsection, “—and brought him out to the middle of nowhere—“ she blocked his swing and twirled out of reach, “—and then goaded him into a fight.”

“What if that was my ulterior motive?” she pointed out.

“I doubt it. You wouldn’t have started all of this with that story about how we met. And besides, since then we’ve only ever sparred during the daytime, and not with actual weapons. You’ve never wanted to spar at night, and certainly not away from an audience,” he said.

Marianne gave a soft smile at this. “You know me well,” she said quietly. Then she raised her sword and came at him again. He blocked her thrust to his mid-section and then they were back in a rapid-fire sequence of attacking and blocking.

“But you still—“ she ducked under his swing, “ haven’t figured out why we’re out here,” she pointed out, blocking another swing.

“No, I haven’t,” he agreed while making a downward swing that she deflected. A few more thrusts and parries, and then their weapons were locked together again. This time her back was to his chest, and her sword was at an awkward angle. One twist of his wrists and he could have her disarmed, ending this. By this point they were both short of breath from the exertion.

“What if I said,” she rasped between breaths, craning her head up to meet his gaze as best as she could, “that the reason I brought you out here was because I was going to ask you to marry me?”

Bog nearly dropped his staff in shock.  His wings nearly went still as well, but he managed to remember that they were both still airborne. His jaw dropped and he could only stare at her.

“Bog?” she asked, disengaging her sword from his staff and turning in his arms.

Bog blinked slowly and forced himself to remember how to speak. “Marianne, I—“ But he was cut off when a large dark shape nearly bowled them over from the side. It was thanks to their combined reflexes that they managed to dart out of the way in time.

“What the hell was that!?” Marianne hissed, putting her back to Bog’s while they both looked around and held their weapons ready. And then Bog spotted it and spat out a curse.

“A bat,” he snarled under his breath to her.

“Two bats,” Marianne corrected.

“Perfect,” Bog muttered sarcastically. The one he’d spotted was gaining on them quickly. He could only guess the one Marianne had seen was doing the same thing.

“You know the fields better than I do,” Bog said over his shoulder. His meaning was obvious. They wouldn’t be able to go for help, because that would lead the bats back to the Elf Festival and the unsuspecting crowd there.

“Straight up and towards the stream,” Marianne answered right away. “We can lose them when we get to the trees.”

And then there was no time to think any more about what to do. As soon as the bats had gotten too close to be able to turn, Bog and Marianne both shot upwards and then flew as hard as they could towards the stream.

“So, how about it?” Marianne called over to him as they flew.

“How about what?” Bog growled back.

“I asked you to marry me?” Marianne reminded him.

Bog spared a disbelieving glance in her direction. “You seriously want to talk about this _now_?!”   

“Well, we might be dead in the next few minutes!” she argued.

“I appreciate your optimism,” he shot back.

“So? What’s it gonna be?” she pressed. They had reached the stream and turned towards the trees. However, before they could reach the nearest tree, a third bat cut across their path, forcing them to stop. Bog started growling audibly as it banked in mid-air and turned back towards them. The first two bats had almost gained on them again. Bog and Marianne were forced to dart in separate directions as all three bats dove for them. They both then made for the tree again as the bats were regrouping.

“Well, honestly,” Bog called to her as they reached the tree and shot into the branches, “I was going to ask you the same thing, if that tells you anything.”

They had reached one of the higher branches that looked to have the thickest amount of leaves on it. Once they had taken cover, Marianne looked at him, blinking slowly. “You were?” she whispered partially out of sudden affection and partially out of a need to avoid their assailants hearing them.

“Yes,” he whispered back with a tender smile. He could have sworn he saw tears welling up in her beautiful golden brown eyes as her lips spread in a smile. But before anything else could happen, one of the bats suddenly landed on a nearby branch and let out a shriek. In the next second its head swiveled in their direction. Before the bat could launch itself at them, Bog shot out of their hiding place with a snarl and swung his staff down on its head, knocking it out.

The next thing he knew, Marianne had darted out and dove for the ground. A second bat was right behind her. Bog took off after the two of them, but before he could do anything, Marianne checked her dive and came straight back at the bat with a battle cry, swinging her sword at it. The tip of her blade caught the bat across its chest. This convinced the bat to lose interest in her and it flew away into the night.

There was still one more to deal with, though. Bog and Marianne both landed on the ground and put their backs to the tree trunk and began searching the skies for the third bat.

After a minute, Bog glanced over at Marianne. She still had her sword ready in front of her, eyes trained on the sky.

“Yes,” he said to her again, retraining his eyes back to his own half of the area in front of them.

“Yes what?” she asked.

“If we survive this, then yes, Crown Princess Marianne of the Fairy Kingdom, I am yours for eternity,” Bog clarified. He glanced at her again and thought that her cheeks were coloring this time. But she was definitely smiling.

That was when the third bat finally made its appearance. And then it was joined by the first bat from above them, who had recovered from Bog’s hit.

“Well, that’s a very good reason to survive this, then,” Marianne said just before the bats dove for them. This time they both launched themselves at the first bat, shooting up towards it and swinging at it at the same time. The end of Bog’s staff landed across its back at the same time as the flat of Marianne’s blade caught it on the head again. The impact from both weapons sent the bat off course and towards the stream, and it looked for a moment as if the bat were going to fall into the stream, it was still dazed from the second hit to its head. But then it caught itself in mid-air and seemed to decide that it too had had enough before following its friend in retreat.

That left the last bat, who shrieked indignantly at Bog and Marianne before flying towards them. Bog and Marianne separated again, Bog flying towards the fields this time. The bat was right behind him and he knew Marianne would be right behind the bat. Another angry shriek from the bat a minute later confirmed that Marianne had caught up to it. When he swung around, he saw that she had landed on its back, one of her hands fisted in its fur. She pulled hard on the bat’s fur, forcing it to stop and flutter in place while it screamed in pain. Bog took the chance and swung his staff, catching the bat across its face while Marianne kicked hard off of it. The bat fluttered for a second while it corrected itself in the air, and then took off in the same direction the other two did.

Bog and Marianne both made for the safety of a nearby blueberry bush and landed on the ground underneath it, leaning against the bush’s branches to catch their breath. Once they could breathe again, they both started laughing.

“I don’t suppose you planned on all that as well,” Bog said through his laughter.

“No,” Marianne answered. “No I didn’t.” They both dissolved into another fit of laughter.

When Bog finally sobered up, he noticed that Marianne had already stopped laughing and was staring at him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Did you really mean it?” she said softly. Bog only blinked at her in confusion.

“When you said yes,” she clarified.

In answer, Bog caught her gaze and held it with his own to make sure he had her full attention. Then he leaned his staff against one of the branches and cupped one of her cheeks in each hand.

“I meant every word,” he said sincerely.

She gave him another grin that rivaled the sun’s in brightness before her sword clattered to the ground and she jumped up on him, her legs wrapping around his thin waist and her arms winding around his shoulders. Her mouth crashed to his in a deep kiss.

Bog had no idea how long it lasted and honestly, he didn’t care. He was content to let Marianne stay where she was as long as she wanted, his arms wrapped around her as their tongues explored the insides of one another’s mouths. He had no idea when he had backed her up against one of the branches or when one of his hands had wandered to the outside of her thigh.

All Bog knew was that one moment he was lost in Marianne’s embrace, and the next there was a throat being cleared. The both of them parted just enough to glare over at the source of the noise. Dawn, Stuff, and one of the fairies from the palace guard were standing there watching them. Bog could hear more people nearby. He took this to mean that they had been missed, or that someone had seen their fight from the festival.   

“Sorry, BK, your highness, we didn’t realize you were busy,” Stuff said, not sounding the least bit contrite. And she looked thoroughly bored with what she was seeing, but Bog supposed that was because it wasn’t the first time she had caught the two of them making out somewhere. As it was, of the three people standing there, the fairy guard was the only one who looked uncomfortable. As soon as Stuff had started speaking, he took the opportunity to call out to the other unseen people that they had been found.

Dawn, however, didn’t look either bored or uncomfortable. She was glancing back and forth between Bog and Marianne, who still hadn’t moved apart from one another, and Bog could almost see her mind working. But Marianne seemed perfectly content to stay where she was, and Bog was perfectly content to let her. Soon, a few more fairies and goblins joined them, and there were even some elves among them. Bog and Marianne glanced back over at one another. It seemed they weren’t going to be left alone now. Marianne rolled her eyes and Bog shook his head, and then he finally set her back down on her feet. She reluctantly bent over to pick up her sword while Bog reached for his staff.

And Dawn had been watching them the whole time. Marianne was in the process of sheathing her sword when Dawn shrieked so loudly it rivaled her earlier scream. Hands couldn’t move fast enough around the group to cover ears. Bog was left with a slight headache this time and was convinced he was going to suffer from some hearing loss now. Then Dawn’s slight weight crashed into him from the front as she pulled him and Marianne into a hug.

“SHE SAID YES!!!!” Dawn screamed happily to the small crowd, who only looked around at each other in confusion.

“Um, actually—“ Bog started, but was cut off as Dawn kept going.

“THEY’RE GETTING MARRIED!!!” she cried out as if Bog hadn’t spoken.

“Actually,” Marianne said, raising her voice to be heard over Dawn’s excitement and before anyone else could start speaking.

“She didn’t say yes,” Bog said once they finally had Dawn’s attention.

Her excitement waned. “Wait, what? But weren’t you going to—“

“ _He_ said yes,” Marianne finished. And this was as much a surprise to the crowd as it was to Dawn herself. Dawn squealed again and pulled them both back into a hug and started chattering about how romantic it must have been. As Bog watched the crowd over Dawn’s head, though, he saw a mixed reaction. A lot of them looked happy, and some looked more pleased than they should have been. And some looked disappointed. And he could have sworn he just saw money changing hands.

Eventually, Dawn released them both from her nearly bone-crushing hug and they left the bush, making their way back to the Elf Village along with the rest of the search party. Dawn had taken up both of their hands in each of her own, however, and on the walk back had resumed her earlier chatter about wedding plans. Bog was only half-listening again. His gaze kept straying over to Marianne, who kept taking glances at him as well. Her eyes held a promise of escaping to somewhere alone again, and this time she’d make sure it was to somewhere where they wouldn’t be disturbed.  Bog wouldn’t mind in the least bit.

But then something Dawn said intruded on his thoughts again. This time he could feel the blood leaving his face. He didn’t realize he had slowed down until Dawn and Marianne stopped and were looking up at him, Marianne in equal horror and Dawn in confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Dawn asked Bog. “You look ill.”

Bog cleared his throat. “I’m fine! I’m just fine,” he reassured her.

“Dawn, why don’t you go on ahead? Let everyone know we’re on our way back?” Marianne suggested to her.

“Sure!” Dawn answered brightly. She dropped their hands and took flight towards the Elf Village, several fairy guards close behind her.

As soon as they were gone, everyone else resumed their trek. Marianne grabbed Bog’s arm and pulled him down so she could whisper to him.

“You didn’t talk to my father first!?” she hissed.

“It never crossed my mind!” he hissed back. “Besides, you asked me! Shouldn’t you have been the one to talk to him?”

Marianne opened her mouth to retort, but then closed it again.

“True,” she conceded. Then her hand slid into his. “In that case, we better go see him together. Something tells me he won’t believe that things happened the way they did otherwise.”

Bog smiled at her, and whatever nervousness might have been building up was immediately dispelled. He’d certainly be able to handle this much better with Marianne there.


End file.
